Early Intervention Summary

Ashley Opp wrote Occupational Therapy in Early Intervention: Helping Children Succeed. The piece starts off by explaining how the first three years of a child’s life are the most important for development. State, local and federal money funds programs called Early Intervention which serves children ages 0 to 3 who have disabilities through a variety of therapy services. These services work to help children to be successful later in life. Occupational therapy is one of the therapies included in Early Intervention. The article said that the Early Intervention programs need to be provided in naturally occurring routines in the family's day to help make it the most effective, this is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Next, the author talks about how families pay for these

The parents will then be the ones to enforce the new behavior when the occupational therapist is not around to be sure that the child is learning it. “Occupational therapy practitioners support and encourage parents' relationship with their child. "The desire to learn in very young children is very much tied to a foundational caring relationship with their family and child care provider," says Rhodes.’ This is why it is important for the occupational therapists to work closely with families especially at these young ages. An Individualized Family Service Plan is a plan that explains what services the child will receive. The article emphasizes the importance that at this age, the family and parents pick the goals for their children. The plans are tailor fit to meet the goals of the parents for their children. An example that the article used was a child may not be able to pick up food to finger feed, which could be identified as the family as an issue. The family and the occupational therapist work together to meet this goal. The piece concludes by reemphasizing that families are the key to the success that the child will have through the Early